It has become a common building practice to construct buildings, particularly commercial and apartment buildings, using expanded foam as the exterior surface or siding. Generally in such applications, the expanded foam is about one inch thick and is coated with a cementaceous coating to provide the appearance of stucco. While such a finishing technique provides an attractive appearance and generally durable exterior, it has been found that current methods for flashing about doors and windows are often inadequate to completely inhibit the entry of rainwater. When this water does infiltrate behind the flashing/siding, it becomes trapped therebehind and results in rotting or deterioration of the underlying plywood or other type of sheathing.
The existence of this condition requires that the expanded foam siding be cut back around windows and doors to a thickness of about one inch so that a new seal may be established about the periphery of the door or window. The most commonly used such technique requires installing silicone caulking at the corners of the opening, filling the cut out portion between the window or door and the expanded foam siding with a polyurethane foam "backer-rod" and then caulking over the "backer-rod" to seal the opening. While this technique provides a repair it is often not permanent and requires redoing. Additionally, when it becomes necessary to recaulk it is often difficult to remove the old caulking without damaging the "backer-rod" and having to redo the entire retrofit installation.
The improved flashing system of the present invention provides a means for inserting a permanent flashing between the door/window and the expanded foam siding. This improved flashing provides for removal by drainage of any water which may infiltrate the system between the flashing and the siding while providing a readily maintainable caulking bead which can be repaired in the normal course of routine maintenance without the risk of damaging the "backer-rod" or the need to cut out any portion thereof.